Chapter 23 Protecting You
Under Bai Chenzhu's persuasion, Jiang Ye finally put down the knife.
"I told you before, there's a special kind of superhuman in this world, whose abilities weren't discovered until much later." Jiang Ye covered his forehead, gasping for breath, and then cursed, "Damn it!"
Bai Chenzhu silently poured him a glass of water. "Continue, is Bai Tao the same as me?"
"How are they the same!" Jiang Ye was furious, slamming his fist on the table. "When she goes berserk, she can't distinguish friend from foe. She's a mutated mental ability user with extremely strong attack power."
"You mean I'm not strong offensively?" Bai Chenzhu translated.
He didn't care about Bai Tao, nor did he care about any connection between Jiang Ye and Bai Tao. He only wanted to know things related to himself, especially important matters concerning his future survival.
Jiang Ye paused, then mumbled, "Isn't this good enough?"
The gleaming blade pressed against Jiang Ye's Adam's apple.
Jiang Ye swallowed hard. "Hey."
Jiang Ye was more worried about what kind of accident this person who had never held a knife might cause than Bai Chenzhu wanting to kill him. It would be even more painful if he couldn't die.
Bai Chenzhu said coldly, "Continue talking about the ability users. I've witnessed her attacking people. But you say I'm not very aggressive, yet we both have mental abilities, so what exactly is my ability?"
Before Jiang Ye could speak, he pushed the knife forward, bringing it less than a centimeter away from the flesh.
Bai Chenzhu narrowed his eyes, tearing away his usual gentle and calm facade, becoming cold and impetuous. "Jiang Ye, the first time I asked you, you said you wanted my sincerity to go with you. The second time I asked you, you hid a lot and told me there would be plenty of time. But things don't happen more than three times. My patience is limited. If this is the first time, there will be no 'plenty of time' between us."
When there is no danger, Bai Chenzhu can ignore it.
But now he clearly saw the ugly side of human nature and realized the danger to his survival. If it had been him instead of Zhou Zhuohua who stayed in the hotel, waves of fear washed over him. No matter what, he had to hold onto what he could.
Jiang Ye glanced at him with a half-smile.
Bai Chenzhu frowned and called his name again.
“I thought you knew I’ve been guiding you.” Jiang Ye leaned back against the headboard, his gaze fixed on Bai Chenzhu’s face, but his hand pushed the blade outwards, his fingertips showing no wounds.
“If you’re going to threaten someone, go all the way. What kind of nonsense is it to secretly turn your wrist halfway through and point the back of the knife at me?” Jiang Ye’s fingers snaked across the blade, then suddenly gripped his wrist. “You’re not ruthless enough.”
Bai Chenzhu felt a numbness in her wrist, and the fruit knife inexplicably ended up in Jiang Ye's hands.
Jiang Ye tossed the fruit knife around, each time managing to grab the handle firmly just when Bai Chenzhu was on edge. "In terms of skill and strength, you can't compare to me. But you have a remarkable ability."
He got tired of playing with the knife and slammed it onto the table with his hand behind his back.
"What is it?" Bai Chenzhu squinted at him.
Jiang Ye raised his hand and, catching Bai Chenzhu off guard, cupped half of his face.
Jiang Ye carefully observed the man before him. He was as refined as jade, cultured and gentle, yet lacked any aggression. Like a beautiful, clear spring, it was easy to overlook the undercurrents beneath.
But Jiang Ye could see it, and he could see it very clearly.
He lightly brushed his fingertip across the small mole under his eye. It was a bright red mole, no bigger than a sesame seed, and usually inconspicuous. But if you focused your attention on it, you could discern a rare and striking beauty in it.
Especially those eyes...
This behavior was frivolous and offensive. Bai Chenzhu impatiently grabbed his wrist with one hand, controlling his movements quickly, his eyes sharp.
“Yes, it’s the eyes.” Jiang Ye’s lips curled up as he slowly withdrew his hand and pointed to the door. “For example, through the wall, you can completely ‘see’ the situation in Zhou Zhuohua’s room.”
He then pointed out the window, "For example, you can learn about the structure of this restaurant."
“These are relatively shallow. To be more powerful,” Jiang Ye smiled at the man in front of him, his eyes filled with an indescribable danger. His fingertips touched his temples. “You can even use your mental power to destroy a person’s mind, making him either insane or mentally impaired from then on.”
“The difference between you and Bai Tao is that she is a mutated psychic ability user, primarily focused on attack and killing. Your strength lies in detection.” Jiang Ye tilted his head in his direction. “Like the day we met the mutated rat, you were able to pinpoint my location clearly. Although you don’t know what your ability is and can’t define it, you’ve actually been using it instinctively all along, haven’t you?”
That's true. Even before Jiang Ye knew, Bai Chenzhu had already been infected after being slashed during the chaos of the fight that night. When he woke up that day, he encountered the man-eating Rose.
Bai Chenzhu understood, his eyes showing surprise and joy, but also a hint of disappointment. "What's the use? If I encounter that group of people again, won't I still be dead?"
"Are you stupid? If you really wanted to investigate, we wouldn't have run into them at all." Jiang Ye chuckled, propping himself up with his hands as he sat up straight. "As long as you stay by my side, I will protect you. I've said it before, you're not a burden, you're a precious superhuman."
That sounds wonderful, and they're even protecting me. Bai Chenzhu never took those high-sounding words to heart. He remained expressionless, thinking to himself: Of course, using someone as a tool is considered valuable; who would want to be a tool if they could fight alone?
As if seeing through Bai Chenzhu's unspoken words, Jiang Ye clicked his tongue lightly, "Then just treat me as a bodyguard, it's all the same."
You use me, I use you; the essence hasn't changed much. Everyone has their own needs and wants what they need.
Bai Chenzhu rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a moment. He looked at Jiang Ye with suspicion, feeling that Jiang Ye valued his special ability for more than just simple exploration of the surrounding environment. But what exactly it was for, he had no clue at the moment.
Unable to figure it out, he stopped thinking about it and said coldly, "White Peach's skills are more practical."
"Oh?" Jiang Ye saw that he hadn't been able to make Bai Chenzhu realize the problem after talking for so long, so he stopped talking, lowered his head and drank the water in his cup. "I hope you remember what you just said."
What do you mean? Bai Chenzhu frowned at him, but Jiang Ye waved his hand, telling him to go and get him some food.
The room they were in was forced open by Bai Chenzhu; their food was still stored in the original suite.
Bai Chenzhu saw Jiang Ye raising his arm to block the light, lying silently on the bed. If it weren't for the fact that he could still see his breathing, he would have almost thought that Jiang Ye was no longer alive.
Bai Chenzhu gently closed the door and went to Zhou Zhuohua's side.
Zhou Zhuohua opened the door and gestured for silence. Bai Chenzhu nodded and followed her inside, only to find that Aunt Liang's body was gone.
Bai Tao curled up and fell asleep, burying herself in the blanket on her side. She was thin and had her back to the door, hiding under the blanket. The blanket was twisted into the shape of a big bun, with one arm across it. Her previously empty left wrist now had an old-fashioned silver bracelet with a peony flower on it.
Bai Chenzhu went inside and got two cans of eight-treasure porridge. Before leaving, he pointed at Bai Tao and asked, "Has she woken up?"
“Yes.” Zhou Zhuohua whispered to avoid waking anyone, “I just went down with her to bury Aunt Liang.”
Bai Chenzhu frowned upon hearing this. "Those people might still be around. Why didn't they call for me and Jiang Ye?"
Zhou Zhuohua pursed her lips and changed the subject, "Bai Tao and Jiang Ye both need to rest, let's rest here tonight."
Bai Chenzhu stared at her for a few seconds, then turned and took two steps away. Just as Zhou Zhuohua was about to close the door, an arm reached out and braced against it. "Sister," Bai Chenzhu turned back and whispered, "about Mengmeng..."
Zhou Zhuohua's breath hitched. She clenched her fists, her eyelashes trembling slightly. "Bai Tao has already told me."
Bai Chenzhu looked over her shoulder at the figure in the room with some confusion.
Bai Tao just lost her mother, right? She even fainted after using some unknown ability. Yet, upon waking, she not only had Zhou Zhuohua accompany her to her mother's funeral, but she also thoughtfully told him about Zhou Mengmeng?
"Hmm." Bai Chenzhu didn't know what to say, so she left the heavy atmosphere and immediately relayed Zhou Zhuohua's words to Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye, for some unknown reason, decided not to sleep and instead took a damp cloth to wipe his baseball bat.
Bai Chenzhu had long forgotten where he had picked up the baseball bat on a whim. He only knew that after Jiang Ye snatched it from him, he used it with great ease and now seemed to love it even more.
Jiang Ye was diligently wiping away the brown marks on the baseball bat, and after a long time, the marks had only lightened a little. Hearing this, he wasn't surprised, and simply said, "Zhou Zhuohua would never be so reckless; it was most likely Bai Tao who instigated him."
When Bai Tao was mentioned, his tone became very displeased.
Bai Chenzhu found Jiang Ye's repeated deviations from the 'script' intriguing. He placed the eight-treasure porridge on the table, pulled up a chair, sat down, propped his head up with one hand, and looked at the person opposite him. Suddenly, he sighed, "Something's not right, Jiang Ye."
"What?" Jiang Ye was confused. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at him.
It would have been extremely offensive to bring this up with the person directly involved in front of him. But now that it was just him and Jiang Ye, Bai Chenzhu felt more at ease and asked, "Is this how you treat your future wife?"
Jiang Ye was stunned. Bai Chenzhu could clearly see that his face was blank and confused, and he even seemed to be questioning his life.
"Huh?" Jiang Ye casually tossed the rag aside, chuckling inexplicably, a mixture of curiosity and anger in his voice. "Who? Who are you calling my wife?"
His face had a look that said, "I'll see what nonsense you're trying to spout."
Bai Chenzhu tapped the glass tabletop with her fingertips as if playing the piano, making a soft sound. "Leaving aside Zhou Zhuohua for now, I now know that she is your half-sister. But in the future, isn't Bai Tao the closest person to you? Meeting her ahead of time, you should be overjoyed and cry your eyes out."
Crying and sobbing? Jiang Ye looked at him with a dark face, slammed the baseball bat on the table with a 'bang,' placing it right between the two of them. Without saying a word, his expression was already full of filth.
Knowing the visitor was hostile, Bai Chenzhu braced himself with his long legs, sliding his chair back half a meter, ready to run at any moment. Jiang Ye was amused by his defensive action.
"You really are..." Jiang Ye gasped, rubbing his forehead, "Wait, did you read this in that damn book again?"
Bai Chenzhu tacitly agreed.
"These are the only two women I can currently meet. You don't mean to think that every woman I meet in the future will be my girlfriend, right?" Jiang Ye's mind worked quickly, and he grasped the key point.
"More or less." Bai Chenzhu rolled up his shirt sleeves, remaining wary while asking matter-of-factly with the air of someone well-read, "Is that so strange?"
"Isn't that strange!" Jiang Ye was furious at his warped values. "Dude, it's the apocalypse, survival is hard enough, who has the mind for romance? What kind of perverted lecherous maniac wrote that book? Huh? He likes breeding so much!"
The face of that gloomy, otaku author involuntarily surfaced in Bai Chenzhu's mind. Remembering how he got here, his expression darkened, and he fiddled with the buttons on his cuffs thoughtfully. "So you've lived this long and never had a boyfriend?"
Jiang Ye gasped.
This is an extremely difficult question to answer. Sometimes, an object represents a kind of honor.
Jiang Ye never actually received one. To be honest, his only relationship was with Wang Xinxin, a relationship built on a hazy, naive attraction during their university years.
Jiang Ye didn't even understand what a romantic relationship was, but out of a sense of responsibility, he earnestly protected Wang Xinxin in the early days of the apocalypse. However, all Wang Xinxin left him with were deep scars, both physically and mentally, which made him never dare to believe in such an ethereal thing as love again.
Like someone touching a long-forgotten scar, Jiang Ye felt offended.
"Don't ask so many questions. Also, I don't care about your past." Jiang Ye revealed a sinister smile. "But now, stop looking at me like that, all annoyed by watching a show."
He looked at Bai Chenzhu with regret, "If you die here, you're really dead."
If you die here, you're truly dead.
Bai Chenzhu felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, a chill spreading from top to bottom. He clenched his fists, remaining silent. The faint smell of blood in the air wafted into his nostrils, giving him goosebumps.
Among these unfamiliar places where he couldn't find a foothold, only Jiang Ye, who had a strong presence from the beginning and was right in front of him, had the deepest connection with him. Like a stable anchor in a world where he couldn't see clearly through the fog, Jiang Ye could calm him down and prevent him from panicking and losing his way.
Bai Chenzhu took a deep breath, suppressing the sense of emptiness and fear that welled up in his heart.
Jiang Ye was looking down as he continued wiping his baseball bat, the dark marks standing out starkly against the light brown wooden bat.
The room was quiet, with only the sound of breathing and the faint rustling of a rag sliding across a baseball bat.
Bai Chenzhu flipped the plate over.
Jiang Ye hadn't finished yet, but he wasn't going to continue. He stared at his weapon, which had been polished smooth, with great satisfaction. He picked it up and swung it twice in the air, the sound of it cutting through the air drawing Bai Chenzhu's attention back.
Jiang Ye said, "Get some rest early tonight, and come with me somewhere tomorrow."
The night was deep, and the hotel lobby was filthy and messy, with a suffocating smell of rust and decay filling the air.
This danger, in fact, is a kind of safety for them.
After all, with such a sight, who would dare to risk going in and explore?
However… Bai Chenzhu looked at Jiang Ye, who was lying down and patting the spot next to him, and said with a dark face, “Do we really need to share a bed?”
He used to clearly prefer sleeping alone, where there was plenty of space and he could sleep in a "spread-eagle" position without bumping into anyone.
Huh? Jiang Ye was also stunned. His hands moved faster than his brain, which is why he patted the blanket to signal someone to come over. There were plenty of empty rooms in the hotel now, so there was really no need to make do.
“This isn’t a suite, there’s no second bed.” Jiang Ye stroked his chin, saying nonchalantly, “If you mind, then go find a new room to sleep in. I don’t care, after all, I’m not going to bring any mutated monsters up here.”
"Who are you talking about?" Bai Chenzhu walked over with a cold face, picked up the corner of the blanket and threw it at the person, "Go away."
Jiang Ye looked at him with schadenfreude, as if to say, "I love that you can't do anything about my bad luck." He was extremely pleased with himself.
"Wait!" Bai Chenzhu knelt on one knee on the bed, his expression serious. "Have you taken a shower?"
Jiang Ye yawned and was about to lie down. "Did you help me wash when I passed out? If not, then no."
"Help you wash? You wish!" Bai Chenzhu's brows furrowed deeper, a hint of anger rising on her face. She threw the pillow at his face viciously. "Go take a shower!"
Author's Note:
Updates will resume every other day, except for those on the charts. [Milk tea emoji]
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